The United States government purchases an average of $5.2 billion of military supplies from foreign countries each year, but the Pentagon and Department of Commerce “haven’t fully determined whether the agreements help or hurt U.S. industry,” according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office.
America’s agreement with Italy expired in 2019, but the DOD continues to ignore the Buy American Act to buy supplies from Italy anyway, the GAO reported.
The DOD is also required to ask the Department of Commerce for advice on how a trade agreement will “help or hurt” U.S. industry. The requirement was ignored when Finland’s deal was renewed in 2018, the GAO found.
Two-thirds of the agreements can be renewed automatically, and there are no “written policies and procedures” for reviewing the agreements or signing new ones. That means the agreements could be hurting U.S. businesses, but the DOD would have no idea. One agreement with Germany has likely not been reviewed since 1991, the GAO said.
Read the article.